Mailflare Alternative: Mail App, Self-Hosted Email on Cloudflare

My Mailflare review is one of the most read posts on this site, and a lot of the people reading it are after the same thing: their own email, on their own domain, in their own Cloudflare account. I’ve built an app that does exactly that. It’s called Mail App, so this isn’t a review. It’s a straight comparison, with the places where Mailflare is still the better pick.

Why I Built Mail App

I’ve reviewed a lot of email providers on this site, and over the last few months I’ve also tried most of the inboxes that run on Cloudflare, including Mailflare, Agentic Inbox and saasmail. I started building my own as an experiment, to see how much of a proper email set-up could run on Cloudflare alone, with no server to look after.

Mailflare was the one I liked most, and it was also the one that taught me what I wanted to do differently. Getting it running took me several attempts: forking the repository, getting the API token permissions exactly right and keeping the Worker name exactly as the README says. Once it worked, it was quick and polished. I wanted the same idea with a set-up that does those fiddly steps for you, and with every feature in the free app, including the team ones.

What the Two Have in Common

Underneath, they’re built on the same idea, so a lot of what I said about Mailflare applies to Mail App too.

Mailflare vs Mail App: Side by Side

Mailflare details are from its GitHub README on 14 November 2026 and from its website when I last checked it, on 9 November 2026. Mail App details are from its page on paulobrien.dev.

Where Mail App Is Different

The installer does the Cloudflare set-up

This is the part I cared about most. You make a Cloudflare API token, run one command and pick your domain. The installer switches on Email Routing, adds the email records, switches on sending and sets up sign-in. Adding another domain later is one more command. You can still deploy from the code if you’d rather see every step.

Every feature is in the free app

With Mailflare, the free Community Edition covers one person well, but your own branding and shared team mailboxes are paid licences. In Mail App there’s nothing to unlock: shared inboxes, team access for up to 50 people and your own logo, name and colour are all in the free app, for your own domains. You still pay Cloudflare for what you use, the same as with Mailflare.

No password to steal

Mail App sits behind Cloudflare Access, so you sign in with a passkey (Face ID, Touch ID, Windows Hello or a security key) or a one-time code sent to your own email address. Only addresses on your People list get past the sign-in page, and each person only sees the mailboxes you give them.

A spam filter that explains itself

Cloudflare turns away mail that fails sender checks before it arrives. After that, Mail App checks mail from people you don’t know for fake brand names, links that don’t go where they say and brand new domains, and tells you in plain English why each email went to Spam.

Where Mailflare Is the Better Pick

I’d rather you picked the right one than picked mine, so here’s where Mailflare does better today.

• Free sending. Mailflare can send through Resend’s free tier. Mail App sends through Cloudflare, which needs Cloudflare’s Workers Paid plan at $5 a month to send to other people’s addresses.
• Not tied to Cloudflare. Mailflare also runs as a Docker container on your own server, and can use PostgreSQL, MySQL or Turso for its database. Mail App only runs on Cloudflare.
• Desktop mail apps. Mailflare offers JMAP and has its own macOS app. Mail App works in the browser and as an installed app, but you can’t add it to Apple Mail, Outlook or Thunderbird.
• Booking and Drive. If you want a public booking page for meetings, Mailflare has one and Mail App doesn’t.
• More people using it. Mailflare has around 6,200 stars and 1,000 forks on GitHub. Mail App is much newer and has far fewer users.

What Each One Costs

Both apps are free. What you pay is Cloudflare, and for Mailflare’s team features, a one-off licence. Cloudflare prices are from its own pricing pages and Mailflare’s from its website on 9 November 2026. Both can change.

Cloudflare bills in US dollars. Mail App’s costs page has worked examples for 1 to 50 people.

Which Should You Choose?

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Mail App really free?

Yes, for personal and small business use on up to 10 of your own domains, with any number of mailboxes. There’s no licence key or trial. Running it for clients or hosting it for others needs a commercial licence. You pay Cloudflare directly for what you use: receiving is free, and sending to other people needs Cloudflare’s Workers Paid plan at $5 a month.

Can I move from Mailflare to Mail App?

Yes, but there’s no direct import from Mailflare. Export your mail from Mailflare as .mbox or .eml files and keep a copy. Then install Mail App, point your domain’s Email Routing at it and bring your old mail in. Try it on a spare domain first if you can.

Can I run both on the same Cloudflare account?

Yes, on different domains. Email Routing sends each domain’s mail to one Worker, so a domain can only go to one of them at a time.

Does my email come to you?

No. Mail App runs only in your own Cloudflare account. Your mail never passes through anything of mine, and I have no way into your mailbox.

What happens if you stop working on Mail App?

Your email keeps running. The code, storage and email set-up are all in your Cloudflare account, and you have the code, so nothing depends on me. The same is true of Mailflare.

Where do I get help?

Bugs go in GitHub issues and questions in GitHub Discussions, where I answer them. There’s no support contract with either app, which is one of the main reasons a managed provider suits most people better.

The Bottom Line

Mailflare is still an impressive app, and if you want free sending, Docker or a desktop mail app, it’s the one I’d point you to. If you liked the idea of Mailflare but found the set-up hard work, or you need shared inboxes for a small team without buying a licence, give Mail App a try. It’s free to try, as receiving mail on Cloudflare costs nothing. And if you’d rather not be your own email administrator at all, that’s a perfectly good answer too. My self-hosted vs managed mail guide will help you decide.

Sources: Mailflare on GitHub, Mailflare, Mail App, Cloudflare Workers pricing.

Note: I built Mail App, and it’s free for your own use. This article contains no affiliate links, and I have no commercial relationship with Mailflare or Cloudflare.